time again. In reality, she had no idea if he was busy or not. In fact, she had no idea where Kaleb even was, and she didn’t care.
Her mom was thrilled to have them back. Only the house she’d grown up in didn’t feel very much like home anymore. She hadn’t made a definitive move yet, as far as making any kind of decisions, and she wasn’t quite sure what she was waiting on.
A miracle?
Well, that ship had already sailed.
Kaleb had rejected Chloe in her hour of need and, in doing so, he’d rejected her too. She’d warned herself time and time again that she was allowing Kaleb to get too close, and was letting her daughter get too attached. And yet she’d allowed things to continue, going as far as to let the man stay in her house—while her daughter was in the other room.
How could she have been so very stupid?
He’d called the nurses’ station to check on Chloe, yes. At least according to the woman who’d been manning the main desk. But when asked if he wanted to speak to her, Kaleb had said no.
No!
Although the attending pediatrician had suspected meningitis at first, Chloe’s headache had been nothing more than one of her migraines combined with a stomach virus. But what if it had been something more serious? Kaleb hadn’t been able to bring himself to travel two floors to the pediatric wing to check on her.
She was sorry his daughter had died. Sorry that he blamed himself for what had happened. Lord only knew that she was still dealing with the aftereffects of Matthew’s suicide. But she was finally ready to move forward, and she’d hoped that Kaleb was too.
But if she’d needed to know how he would respond in an emergency, she had her answer. He would withdraw into a shell and then walk away without a word. The same way he’d walked out of the hospital that day.
Her mom came into the farmhouse, a basket full of tomatoes in her arms. Maddy took them from her and set them on the counter. “You shouldn’t be doing that by yourself.”
“And you should unpack your bags. You’ve been here for two weeks, honey. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were waiting for someone to come and take you back to Seattle.”
“Of course I’m not. I just haven’t gotten around to it. That’s all.”
She wasn’t waiting. Because even if Kaleb showed up in the flesh, she doubted he could convince her to go back with him, unless he got down on bended knee.
And maybe not even then. So why was she picturing him doing just that?
Her mom came over and pressed her cheek against hers. Maddy breathed in the familiar scents that she’d grown up with: rich soil, fresh vegetables and her mom’s lilac perfume. Good clean smells that should be welcoming and comforting. And they were. But more as a landing pad to get her bearings before being shot back out into the world. Only this time she had no idea where she would wind up. Maybe she should just stay here in Gamble Point. Her mother would love it.
As if reading her mind, her mom gave her a quick hug. “Why don’t I give you some time alone to work through some things?” She held out her hand to Chloe. “Do you want to go help your grandma feed some chickens?”
“Yes!” Chloe started to run toward the door only to stop and look back at her mother, as if uncertain if Maddy would be okay by herself.
Her eyes flooded with tears. Her daughter should not have to worry about anything more than chickens.
She forced herself to smile. “Go ahead. Maybe we can go get some ice cream when you come back.”
With that, her mother and her daughter went out the door hand in hand.
A deep ache settled into her chest. Where was she going to go from here?
Back to Seattle? And see Kaleb there and wonder why he hadn’t been able to see past his own hurt to someone else’s?
Ha! As she’d done? She hadn’t been able to see past what Matthew had done all those years ago. Instead, she’d assumed that Kaleb—and every other man—would do the exact same things: abandon her and Chloe in their hour of need.
Hadn’t Kaleb done exactly that?
Yes. He had.
Roxy had told her not to leave. To give him a chance to realize he’d been wrong. “He’s a groveler, you know. Deep down, he is. You just need to give him some time to get those old knee hinges oiled and back in working order.”
Instead, Maddy had packed her bags and had left Seattle, turning her caseload over to other doctors. She’d wanted to hand in her resignation, but the hospital administrator had asked her to take a few weeks of personal vacation time instead.
So that was what she’d done. She’d left Jetta in the care of Roxy. Just in case.
And her bags were still packed in her childhood bedroom. Why? Did she really expect Kaleb to swoop in on a white horse and rescue her?
No, because she didn’t need rescuing. She was a strong woman who’d done just fine on her own. But what she’d wanted was for him to come through for her. Had felt as if she needed him to.
Except she was afraid that Roxy might have been right for once in her life. Maybe she hadn’t given Kaleb enough time to deal with everything that had happened between them.
Should she go and storm back into his life, demanding that he hear her out? And if, afterward, he said he didn’t want to make room in his heart for her and Chloe?
Well, then he could damn well tell her that to her face.
Oh, yes. He definitely could.
That was why her bags were still packed. Because she wasn’t quite ready to give up on the place—or the person—she’d left behind. Not until she knew for sure that it...that he...didn’t want her to stay.
She could start by calling an end to the private party she’d been having in Pity City and making a plane reservation for the earliest possible date.
She was still on the phone with the travel agency when the doorbell rang. She glanced at the back door, hoping she’d see her mother outside, but there was nothing but acres of crops there. The henhouse was about a hundred yards to the south.
Damn.
“I’m sorry. I’ll need to call you back in a few minutes.”
It was probably either a delivery or one of her mom’s field workers with a question. Sliding her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, she headed for the door. She swung it open, ready to tell whoever it was that her mom was out feeding her chickens, except it wasn’t a worker.
And it wasn’t a deliveryman, but he was carrying a small bag.
Kaleb.
She blinked. Opened her eyes.
Nope. Still there.
“May I come in?”
She
